Goldberg returns on Raw, announces that Brock Lesnar is NEXT... and LAST

It was a moment set-up by a video game.

That was still a theme of the evening, as an earlier promo from Paul Heyman implored Goldberg not to risk his life by accepting the challenge of facing Brock Lesnar. His argument was that a match at Survivor Series wouldn’t be like playing WWE 2K17. The stakes would be real, and the WCW legend would get hurt.

But Raw did establish some wrestling cred for their upcoming pay-per-view (PPV) bout - and educate the younger members of the WWE Universe on who Goldberg is - with highlights of his career throughout the night.

Michael Cole introduced his return while standing in the ring, replaying clips of Goldberg’s appearance on SportsCenter and Heyman’s response from last week.

Introduced as “the greatest champion in WCW history”, Goldberg made his iconic walk from the back to the stage. A collection of WWE Superstars lined the hallway to cheer him as the fans chanted his name from the Pepsi Center.

He was obviously pumped as he made his way through the sparks on the stage in Denver. After screaming what looked to be a self-motivating expletive, he fist-bumped a little boy and climbed into the ring.

The former NFL vet looked as moved as Shane McMahon when he returned in Detroit earlier this year. As the crowd switched to some other, less PG chants, Goldberg winked to his young son, who was seated in the front row with his wife.

Finally, as the crowd wound down, Cole handed him the microphone.

If you hoped he’d just snarl, “BROCK! YOU’RE NEXT!”, you might have been disappointed.

Instead, Goldberg told the tale he’s been telling on the interview circuit since he was announced as a DLC for this year’s licensed video game. He missed being a superhero in the ring, but he’d “created a little drama for himself” during his last run in WWE. That made him think, maybe his career was better left alone.

Until, Lesnar had his “fat little stooge” challenge him to a fight. He asked the crowd what they would do in his shoes. Then he revealed he thought “maybe I have one last ass-kicking in me”.

We then got to the money line. But more than that, Goldberg revealed Lesnar is LAST.

One more match against an old rival at Survivor Series.

Next stop, Hall of Fame?